DE-OS 39 14 686.3 disclosed a vending system of this type in which a number of compartments that can be locked with doors is arranged within a vending room. A merchant code of at least one merchant and a predetermined number of account numbers and possibly even customer numbers of the customers are stored in a memory. The merchant enters an identifying merchant code in order to reserve a compartment, whereafter the computing unit of the system reserves a compartment once the account number assigned to the given customer has been entered. The merchant enters the price of the goods to be placed into the assigned compartment into the memory via the computing unit. The computing unit displays a suitable compartment to receive the goods on the display device and causes the door of the displayed compartment to unlock. After the goods have been placed into the displayed compartment, the computing unit causes the door to lock again.
The customer gains access to withdraw the designated goods by entering an account number identifying the customer and possibly also his own customer number. The computing unit displays the compartment reserved for the customer on the display device and unlocks the door of the compartment reserved for the customer. The computing unit causes the door of the displayed compartment to lock after the goods have been withdrawn.
One problem of such a vending system can be seen in the fact that the arrangement of the compartments requires a relatively large space. In other words, a separate room that is lost as sales area is usually required to accommodate this known vending system. The surface area occupied by the compartments is very large because direct access to each area within human reach is required with this known system, whereby this direct access extends from approximately 50 cm up to no more than 2 m from the floor. The manufacture of this known vending system is relatively expensive because a separate door and unlocking device with the corresponding control electronics to access it is required for each compartment. Due to the arrangement of the large number of doors, the entire system is susceptible to defects in regard to the mechanical system, as well as the electronics controlling the locking and unlocking of the doors.